SUKABUMI, Indonesia — On Monday, officials confirmed the recovery of ten bodies after devastating flash floods and landslides struck several hilly villages on Java, Indonesia’s primary island. Currently, two individuals remain unaccounted for in the disaster that has unfolded in recent days.
Heavy rainfall that began last week led to rivers overflowing, affecting over 170 villages within the Sukabumi district of West Java province. Lt. Col. Yudi Hariyanto, who oversees local rescue operations, highlighted that mud, rocks, and trees cascaded down mountains, wreaking havoc in several hamlets.
The impact of the floods and landslides forced more than 3,000 residents to seek refuge in temporary government shelters, with authorities urging nearly 1,000 more individuals to evacuate as extreme weather threatened over 400 homes. The disasters wrecked 31 bridges and 81 roads, inundating approximately 539 hectares of rice paddies, while over 1,170 homes faced flooding that reached their roofs. Additionally, more than 3,300 structures have suffered damage, as reported by the local Disaster Management Agency.
In the hardest-hit areas such as Tegalbuleud, Simpenan, and Ciemas, recovery teams located ten victims, including three children. Rescue operations are ongoing, with teams searching for the two missing villagers.
Social media has been inundated with videos documenting the overwhelming flash floods, which swept away various objects in their path, including vehicles and livestock. The West Java Search and Rescue Agency released footage depicting roads transformed into muddy torrents, with villages buried beneath debris as soldiers, police, and rescuers worked tirelessly to recover the lost.
Seasonal rains, typically from October through March, are known to trigger floods and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago consisting of 17,000 islands, where numerous communities reside in mountainous locales or alongside rich flood plains.
In a related incident last month, heavy downpours in North Sumatra province resulted in landslides and flash floods, claiming 20 lives and leaving two people missing. Another landslide in the same area struck a tourist bus, resulting in nine fatalities.
